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Equine Environmental Maintenance: Impact, Responses, and Recommendations

Explore the physiological, metabolic, and behavioral responses of horses to varying environmental conditions. Understand how to maintain horses in cold and hot environments with expert recommendations for optimal care.

george-erickson
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Equine Environmental Maintenance: Impact, Responses, and Recommendations

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  1. Effect of Environment – Maintenance • Acute or chronic • Physiological responses • Metabolic responses • Behavioral responses

  2. Effect of Environment – Maintenance • Example: • Sudden cold spell • Eat more to increase metabolic heat production • Changes in posture to reduce heat loss

  3. Effect of Environment – Maintenance • Example: • Chronic cold temperatures • Longer feeding periods • Increased hair coat • Decreased rectal temperature • Decreased respiratory rate

  4. Effect of Environment – Maintenance

  5. NRC, 2007 Upper & Lower Critical Temperatures

  6. Effect of Environment • Young horses are cold stressed at higher temperatures than adults • Less than 4 wks old – remained healthy, gained normally if shelter, bedding, feed plentiful (Cymbaluk et al., 1993)

  7. Effect of Environment • Full acclimation to either hot or cold temperatures – 21 days • Therefore, LCT & UCT are not constant • Also consider rain, wind, shelter, age, body condition

  8. Effect of Environment • Shelter = 9% reduction in heat loss • Blankets = 18% reduction in heat loss • Shelter + blanket = 26% reduction in heat loss (MacCormack & Bruce, 1991)

  9. Cold Environment – Recommendations • Nutrient affected = ENERGY • Hay provided free-choice allows horses to eat to their energy reqmts • Higher digestibility hay = higher total energy intake • Growing, thin, worked, aged – may need concentrate added

  10. Cold Environment – Recommendations • Adult horses need 2.5% increase in DE for maintenance for each degree Celsius below LCT.

  11. Cold Environment – Recommendations • LCT = 5°F = -15°C • 0°F = -18°C • So 3 Celsius degrees below LCT • 3 x 2.5% = 7.5% increase in DEm

  12. Cold Environment – Recommendations • Mature QH performance gelding, 10 years old, 1,250 lb, during the off-season • DEm = 33.3 kcal/kg BW x (567.5 kg) = 18,898 kcal/1,000 kcal/Mcal = 18.9 Mcal

  13. Cold Environment – Recommendations • DEm= 18.9 Mcal • 7.5% increase in DEm • 18.9 Mcal x 0.075 = 1.4 Mcal • Adjusted DEmfor 0°F • 18.9 Mcal + 1.4 Mcal = 20.3 Mcal

  14. Cold Environment – Recommendations • Additional minerals/vitamins not necessary • Water free-choice • Water intake maximized if heated to 68°F (Kristula & McDonnell, 1994) • Minimize energy loss with bedding, shelter from wind

  15. Hot Environment – Recommendations • Water intake greatly increased = water free-choice • Electrolytes (Na, Cl) lost in sweat = salt free-choice • No preference for cooled water • Fat replacing some fiber?? • Shade

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